Preamble: A mutual decision was made to do in 2009, if a little more extensively, what had been planned for 2008 before unhappy circumstances overwhelmed us. It would be a memorial pilgrimage of sorts for John, and a chance to see what had been photographed and talked about for years for Marissa. Not only would we see a number of places in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) but we would incorporate a visit to Carol & Jerry and Rita & Bob towards the conclusion as we headed southwards for home.
Having loosely identified an itinerary & probable dates (latter half of September) we planned a week together in order to make things more firm, have a little mutual holiday, and make at least one long day’s trip with Zoe, to assure ourselves that she could handle long days in the van as well as we know she can handle short trips. This “Trip Report” will therefore include some of the preliminary weeks’ activities if not in as much detail as it is hoped the actual U.P. experience will be documented.
Preliminary Day #1, Wednesday August 12th: Trip odometer set to zero and just John heading to Mount Vernon. Route was a series of zig-zags – down 31, across to 11 at Azalia (to avoid obviously slow traffic ahead), sudden decision to have one of the great hamburgers at The Brick, back roads through Seymour, west on US 50 to Brownstown & on to Bedford, then 37 South almost all the way to the Ohio River (Tell City) followed by US 66 west along the river to Newburg. Stopped there for a leg stretch and used bookshop visit, then on to Evansville, across its waterfront then back roads halfway to Mount Vernon, before joining the main road for the last stretch. John arrived at M.V. at 5:00 EDT/4:00 CDT, having covered 210 miles. 37 was an odd mix, much of it good 4-lane divided highway, but other parts hilly, very twisty narrow 2-lane, which made for interest if not for speed.
After an R & R period & stroll around the property, which needs quite a bit of care & attention after the recent rains & heat have caused all the undesirable vegetation to grow excessively, Marissa took us to a local (& excellent) southern-style barbecue restaurant where we both ate too much & Marissa picked up the check! Returning home, we took Zoe for a walk, although it didn’t do much to relieve the overfull stomachs feeling!
Preliminary Day #2, Thursday August 13th: After a nice lazy start drinking coffee & eating muffins, we took on the new hand-held showerhead (which John had brought with him) installation. It must have taken all of 5 minutes! It is a vast improvement. It is muggy & getting hot outside, so it seems unlikely that any “gardening” will be done today.
In due course we went to see Peggy and 1½ hours later John was nice & neat again and Marissa was once again also short and a full deep red. We headed to Evansville & GD Ritzy’s was our first stop for chili plus (+ = hotdog for John & burger & fries for Marissa). We left, feeling full once again. Then we had a spectacular Power Shop at Kohls. Their special deal vacuum cleaner of the week was a Bissel cyclonic (bag-less), and their special deal carpet shampooer of the week was also a Bissel. Since they had been cleaned out we agreed to take the floor sample vacuum for 10% discount, we got a ½ gallon of shampoo, and John had (from a Columbus mailing) a 15% off everything card good for 4 days only, so we walked out of there with everything for an astonishing mere $165!!!!
A successful shop in Lowes was almost anti-climactic and by then we were ready to head home for as much of a needed nap as Zoe was prepared to allow us to have. After unpacking everything we installed Marissa’s showerhead in her shower (another big improvement), fixed the smoke alarms (only needed a new 9 V battery), tried out both vacuum & shampooer, which latter is more like a vertical wet-vac & will be great for accidental clean-ups. After a nice pizza for supper we drifted outside as the air cooled a little and soaked some smaller flowerbeds ready for weeding in the morning plus Marissa mowed down her back & bigger side yard’s grass. It’s been quite a full day.
Preliminary Day #3, Friday August 14th: The morning did not go quite to plan. John slept relatively late & Marissa, who is still recovering from fighting off some bug or other, slept even later, so we ventured outside in our grubbies quite a bit later than expected. This meant it was already hotter than we wanted. However, most of weeds planned for pulling this day were pulled, the weedeater was fought with and eventually re-strung, although not used for long, the remaining grass was mowed, debris was picked up & some blowing was done. We also accepted an invitation to go and see how much more progress the new neighbors across the street had achieved with their yard. The improvement from the appearance of both house and garden as compared to 18 months ago is little short of miraculous.
With both of us close to overheated we decided that enough had been achieved for a hot, humid & very sunny day & we retreated inside to cool off, take showers, eat lunch, relax and all nap.
Around 5:00PM Becca arrived & we all piled into the van & drove up to New Harmony. There we went to the White House & John bought a nice & upscale dinner for us all. We cut it a bit fine getting to the theatre (as did the other ushers) & the manager was so glad to see us that she even gave John an ushering job. For half-an-hour or so we ripped stubs off tickets and handed out programs while Becca was down inside showing people where their seats were. Once everybody was seated we made our way up to the back row to watch the show for free. Since the principals all wore microphones & the amp was turned up a bit high the back was probably the best place to be. The show is long, but was well done & we all enjoyed it.
Our last “job” was a tidy check of the auditorium for left behind programs, etc after the crowd left and then we headed home. It was a nice evening.
Preliminary Day #4, Saturday August 15th: The morning was again treated gently but not as slow/late as yesterday. In due course we had the cooler packed for our picnic, loaded the van, set a destination on Marissa’s Tom-Tom (as we wanted to test using it, as well as testing Zoe’s ability to cope with longer runs) and took off. We were guided through various back-roads in and around Mt. Vernon & out on to the main road. We disobeyed “Evangeline” (the British voice of the Tom-Tom) & missed a turn that came up suddenly & half hidden over in Illinois & had to turn around, but otherwise did well making excellent time down to Cave In Rock.
We looped around and found a parking place in good shade near the access steps down to the cave. With Zoe leading the way and managing the steps beautifully we “explored” the cave. As it was brightly sunny outside (and on the top opening) we could see well. We then clambered back up to the top of the hill & fired up the van/air conditioning so we could all cool off before adjourning to the nearby picnic shelter & enjoy our lunch. The shade was nice, but more breeze would have been welcome.
We mistimed our departure, 12:30PM on a summer Saturday is a busy time for the ferry, & had to wait while it made a double crossing, all the while staring at the back view of a TREK RV. We didn’t expect to make the next ferry, but were the penultimate 4-wheel vehicle to make it on, plus a couple of bikers and their chicks. We were not delayed by one of the massive tows as the previous crossing had been.
Once on the Kentucky side Evangeline proved her worth by directing us down a series of un-numbered Kentucky byways before joining the main highway, thereby cutting off two long legs of a triangle. We then swapped places to see how Zoe reacted when Marissa was driving – no problem at all - but shortly after the switch we ran through a heavy “pop-up” rainstorm that Marissa accused John of knowing was ahead! Once in Henderson we pulled in to a DQ for an afternoon booster, changed drivers back & not long after went in to Audubon State Park. Zoe got a little exercise & bladder relief & we each visited the gift shop, but only got a bookmark. We then toured all the roads in the park, which is much bigger than we realized as we have only been there during the craft fair located all around the entrance area before.
We timed our exit well, as we had barely crossed the river than we hit a much larger & equally heavy pop-up deluge, which lasted 2/3rds of the way back to Mt. Vernon. All in all it was good trip. It demonstrated that Zoe is an excellent & trouble-free traveler, and we got to learn a few of Evangeline’s quirks as well as her obvious good points.
Preliminary Day #5, Sunday August 16th: The morning was much as the last few, boding another hot & humid day. Marissa pursued interior domesticity (laundry, trying the new vacuum, etc) and John started some more weeding in ground that was very soft after yesterday’s downpour. That morphed into weed-whacking, with Marissa uprooting some of the more overgrown weeds. By late morning the whole yard looked respectable if not pristine, and with temperatures already in the 90’s and heat indices in the 100’s we adjourned inside and all three of us took a shower, two of us happily & the 4-legged one less so!
A quick trip was made to the IGA for supplies enough to cover lunch and dinner, and thereafter the day was abandoned to general R & R and reading. After dinner we did a bit more serious research & homed in on our first choices of pet-friendly motels for our trip, although only the first three nights will be pre-committed until we are up there.
Preliminary Day #6, Monday August 17th: This was the day reality returned, especially for Marissa who had to go to work. John pottered around in the morning, being mildly domestic, and playing on his PC. Before it became too unbearable outside Zoe & John went for a long walk around the neighborhood, before returning to the cool of the house.
Marissa came home for her “split-shift” afternoon off & we went to Koodie Hoos for a nice lunch. Then we ran over to the edge of Evansville and took in a matinee movie. It was “Julie & Julia” which was thoroughly enjoyed. After we had returned home for a little while Marissa left for her evening shift & Zoe & John were left to their own devices. John took note that ready for the trip home the next day the trip odometer was showing 432.6 miles.
Preliminary Day #7, Tuesday August 18th: This day concluded the “Preliminary” part of this diary. John woke absurdly early (after an early bedtime) & had read The Republic on line by 6:00AM. After making coffee, fussing Zoe, getting dressed and having a bite of breakfast, the van was packed (most “packing” having been completed the evening before) quite quickly and after the goodbyes (with very sad looks from Zoe) he was on the road well before 7:30 (8:30 Columbus time).
This was to be another day of partial exploration, the route being New Harmony, toll bridge to Illinois, Illinois 1 all the way up to level with Vincennes, back across to Indiana, a jig-jog and off up Indiana 67 all the way to Martinsville. It was all very pleasant and John had the road virtually to himself all the way from Mt. Vernon to the detestable Martinsville, where nothing is actually as the maps would make it appear. After more than one diversion Indiana 44 was finally located, but unlike the map’s almost straight line was in fact the twistiest road of the trip. That was annoying, as 252 had been passed up as it was known to be rather twisty, but 44 was no better. Franklin was eventually reached & the last leg down 31 was uneventful.
Naturally this “circular” route was further and took longer, although much of it was pleasant and not frustrating. Final trip mileage totaled 672, good practice for September!
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